The young prospective farmers of Weiden am See embark on an organised boundary ride to be introduced to the “3 lions” (boundary markings of the municipalities of Neusiedl, Weiden and Zurndorf) along the community boundary lines. The takes place in the form of a special ritual which is passed on from farming generation to farming generation.

Local products are placed on chairs in front of the houses along the Obere and Untere Hauptstrasse for sale to visitors. The goods on offer include fruit, vegetables, wine and typical straw-woven objects. The chair market has no official opening times and depends on supply and demand, the weather and the time of year. More information is available from the tourism office: Tel: 02167/7427.

The making of straw-woven objects, in the form of suns or crosses for example, is a relatively young form of Burgenland art. One explanation is that this form of straw weaving was brought back by soldiers returning from Serbia and Croatia after the end of the first world war. Another theory is that they originate from workers working on the farms in the area. Up until 1930, the many workers from the Neuhof estate in the Raab cathedral chapter celebrated a harvest festival after bringing in the harvest. They made a harvest crown for this event and decorated it with delicate, filigreed shapes made from straw.

Before these shapes could take their final form, for example a cross or a sun, many hand movements had to take place. Wheat straw was mostly used. The wheat was cut with a scythe, bound up in bundles and left to dry. After drying, the bottom part of the sheath was cut as only the upper part and the head were used for braiding. The outer part of the straw was peeled off and the straw left in water to soak until it became flexible and elastic.

When holiday tourism started in the 1960s, people began to rediscover this straw art and started to produce straw woven objects. This skill is passed on from generation to generation.

In summer, these straw objects, often decorated with straw and dried flowers, are on sale to our holiday guests. They can be found in the chair market and provided welcome pockets money for the women of the village.

People from Gols are known as „Grammelposcher“, people from Neusiedl as „Herren aus Neusiedl“ , and those from Weiden as „Hetscherler“. This is because there are so many rose hip bushes in the area. Many locals make use of this plant and turn the fruit into delicious liqueurs,and tasty jams like the „Hetscherllekwar“ (lekwar=Hungarian for jam)

As you can imagine, the amount made is very small. You can find the recipe for Weidener rose hip jams here! - download as pdf.

For those not wanting to try the production process for themselves, the „Hetscherllekwar“ can be bought from the following family: